David Baldacci - Hour Game

"I don't know," said King, who'd listened intently to this exchange. "I'd tip at least twenty bucks to see that."

KING AND MICHELLE WALKED down the hallway, slipped behind the heavy red curtain and started knocking on doors. Several rooms were unlocked and unoccupied. From the others issued either a string of profanities or sleepy groans. Whenever a door was unlocked and opened-always by a scantily clad young woman with an extremely weary look-Michelle asked the same question while King averted his eyes.

"Didn't really know her," was the constant refrain. However, at the next-to-last room on the hall the voice said, "Come on in." Michelle did so. When she exited a couple of minutes later, she appeared truly shaken.

"You okay?" asked King.

"I was just propositioned by a six-foot-tall naked woman named Heidi."

"I can wait out in the car if you want."

"Shut up!"

"Must've been the come-hither look."

At the last room the door was opened by a young woman wearing a long robe that didn't entirely hide her heavy curves and inflated bosom. Her dyed-blond hair was in a ponytail, and her feet were bare. She was sipping a cup of black coffee. She introduced herself only as Pam, and after they had told her what they wanted, she actually invited them in.

They sat at a small table around which were placed four chairs. The room looked comfy enough, although King caught himself staring at the rumpled bed in the corner and the array of lingerie piled there. He turned to find Michelle's severe gaze on him.

"So you knew Rhonda?" asked King.

"Yes, sir."

King ran his eye over her. She was so young-looking that had he seen her half-naked rubbing against a pole, he would have probably thrown a blanket over her and called her father to come retrieve her. "Have the police already talked to you?"

"Yes, sir, the FBI actually. That's what they said they were anyway."

"Can you tell us what you told them?"

"Yes, sir."

"You don't have to call me sir, Pam. I'm Sean, this is Michelle."

Pam looked at her stubby toes with the cracked polish and crossed one pudgy foot over the other. "Sorry, I guess I'm sorta nervous, Sean."

Michelle patted her hand. "There's nothing to be nervous about."

"I mean with Rhonda getting killed and all. I guess it could've been any one of us, though Rhonda took chances I never would."

"What sort of chances?" asked King.

"We worked the same clubs together. She'd go off with men she didn't even know if they were nice to her. I only been doing this a couple of years, and I know better than that. But she always came back." Pam dabbed at some tears. "Only this time she didn't."

"Do you have any idea whom she went off with this time?" asked Michelle.

"No. Like I told them others, sometimes she tells me before she goes, other times not. This time she didn't." She took a sip of her coffee and wiped her thick lips with the back of a shaky hand. King noted that her red nail polish was chipped.

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Couple of weeks before they found her. Our contracts were up here, but I signed on for another month. I like it here. The pay's good, and the folks here treat us nice. Not that many places give you a room and meals and all."

"And no customers back here to bother you, I take it," said King.

"No, sir, none of that," she said. "They're real particular about that."

"Did you ever see her with anyone, a man you didn't know? Did she mention anyone she was seeing?"

"No, nothing like that. Sorry."

He handed her one of his cards. "If you remember anything else, give us a call."

Both lost in thought, King and Michelle walked outside to her truck.

King was eyeing the full parking lot. "Hard to believe people find the time in the middle of the day to come here."

"It's pretty sick if you ask me," said Michelle. She was still frowning as she settled behind the wheel. "Do you know you have to be twenty-one to watch strippers, but you only have to be eighteen to be one? How does that make sense?"

King lowered himself into the passenger seat. "Granted it's ridiculous and degrading. Is that why you're in such a bad mood?"

"No! The legendary Aphrodisiac was a complete waste of time, that's why."

"How can you say that? Not only did you get a job offer as a pole dancer, which could actually come in handy when our firm's going through the inevitable lean times, but you also might have a real friend in Heidi."

A second later King was rubbing his arm where she'd slugged him. "Damn, that really hurt, Michelle," he complained.

"And it'll hurt even more if you keep it up."

JUNIOR DEAVER STEPPED OUTSIDE his half-built house and looked at the dark sky. The man was tired, having worked all day on other people's jobs before heading here to drive nails into shingles and plywood. He'd finished right before the light was gone, and then worked some on the inside. They were all looking forward to getting out of the cramped trailer.

However, the upcoming criminal trial was weighing heavily on his mind. Lulu never stopped talking about it. Could be the ruin of all our dreams, she kept saying. What if Mrs. Battle sued them? It would all be over. Then his mother-in-law would start in, and once started, Priscilla Oxley never shut up. Junior had experienced many lows in life. This one ranked right up there with the worst.

He thought about Remmy Battle's offer. If only he had something to give her. It pissed him off that no one seemed to believe him. Yet with all the evidence stacked against him he could understand how the woman thought he was guilty.

As he munched on a sandwich and sipped a beer he'd pulled from his cooler, he mulled over some things in his head. He could end this thing right now if he wanted-just tell the truth of what he'd been doing that night-but he'd rather go to jail. He just couldn't do that to Lulu. It'd been stupid, really stupid. But he couldn't take it back now.

He finished his sandwich. His cell phone was vibrating with a box full of messages. He hated the damn thing; everybody wanted something right now. He checked the list of calls. One had him puzzled: Sean King. Wonder what he wants, Junior thought. Well, it would have to wait.

He went back inside. It was almost eight o'clock, definitely time to call it a day. He'd been up since four in the morning. His back was killing him from climbing up and down the ladder with the shingles. He was getting too old for this kind of labor. Yet he expected to be doing it until he dropped. What else was there for a guy like him?

The blow came from directly behind him, actually cracking his skull and staggering the big man. Junior clutched his head and in the same motion wheeled around. Through the blood pouring down his face he saw the black hood coming at him, shovel upraised. He managed to block the blow with his forearm, though it shattered it. He fell back, yelling from the pain. As he lay on the cold wooden floor, he saw the shovel coming at him again. He managed to swing out his right leg and knocked the person's feet out from under him.

The man landed hard but sprang back up. Junior sat back on his butt, holding his broken arm. His big belly heaving, he kept kicking at his attacker, trying to keep him back as he scuffled away. His sandwich and beer came back up on him, covering the wooden subfloor with vomit. He managed to half raise himself, but another blow caught him across the back, and he went down again.

Junior Deaver was over six-four and weighed about 270 pounds. If he could just get in one shot on his smaller opponent, he knew things could change quickly. He'd kill the son of a bitch. Considering how badly he was already injured, Junior figured he had only one chance at this. Having been in his share of bar fights, he had some experience to draw on. He plotted to sucker his attacker in.